PayPal Holdings, Inc. $PYPL Position Reduced by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) by 82.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,780 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 31,650 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in PayPal were worth $307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the 4th quarter valued at about $949,758,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of PayPal by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,376,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,276,205,000 after purchasing an additional 5,534,462 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 355.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,967,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $224,665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,875,688 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in PayPal by 143.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,089,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $297,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in PayPal by 261.5% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,291,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $133,761,000 after buying an additional 1,657,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PYPL stock opened at $56.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $44.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.23. PayPal Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.46 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The credit services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.02% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that PayPal Holdings, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

PayPal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. PayPal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.51%.

Key Stories Impacting PayPal

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The reported takeover interest from Stripe and Advent has fueled speculation that PayPal could be worth more than the current offer, with several analysts and investors arguing the bid is too low. Reuters: PayPal board sees Stripe-Advent offer as inadequate, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary suggests the bid could force a higher valuation for PYPL, potentially supporting further upside if negotiations continue or a competing offer emerges. Yahoo Finance: Cantor sees potential for higher PayPal offer as analysis suggests $70/share value
• Neutral Sentiment: PayPal’s board has reportedly not formally responded yet, so the deal is still early-stage and subject to negotiation, financing, and regulatory risk. Yahoo Finance weekly review
• Negative Sentiment: The board is said to view the $53 billion proposal as inadequate, which could mean a longer path to any deal or no deal at all if a higher price does not materialize. PYMNTS: PayPal Board Calls $53 Billion Stripe-Advent Bid Inadequate

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Clear Str upgraded PayPal to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on PayPal from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of PayPal from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PayPal news, insider Frank Keller sold 4,612 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.54, for a total value of $196,194.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,260.18. This trade represents a 9.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 3,379 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.79, for a total value of $144,587.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,762.57. The trade was a 9.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 20,612 shares of company stock valued at $966,623 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

PayPal Profile

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal’s platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal’s portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree’s developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.